"They have added a lot more lights than they have before it really looks spectacular now," Audrey Stroub, who has attended about a dozen tree lightings, said.

"Just all the lights and how pretty it was it was like a big winter wonderland," Izabell McCullen, 10, said.

After the tree was lit, Santa Claus and the Grinch made an appearance and handed out candy.

Much of the crowd headed over to McFadden plaza where the Youth Center Carson City Showstoppers performed some Christmas songs at the amphitheater. There were also booths set up throughout the plaza selling all kinds of things, mostly having to do with the holidays.

Stroub said that after Carson City spent all that time and money making downtown more welcoming, that this event is a great use of that space.

"And that's why it's important for the city to bring more people downtown to enjoy Carson City." Stroub said.